A list of some of the notable Canadians who died in 2012

Rory Bushfield carries the first candle in a ceremony for his wife freestyle skier Sarah Burke in Whistler Village Square Tuesday, April 10, 2012. The Canadian freestyle skier who was a pioneer of the superpipe event and four-time Winter X Games gold medalist passed away January 19, 2012. (Bonny Makarewicz/For PNG)

A list, in chronological order, of some of the notable Canadians who died in 2012.

JANUARY

3 – Celebrated Czech writer Josef Skvorecky, in Toronto at age 87. He fled to Canada with his wife, writer and actress Zdena Salivarova, in the wake of the 1968 Soviet invasion to publish the works of dissident writers.

9 – Former Montreal Canadiens assistant general manager Ron Caron, at age 82. Nicknamed the “Old Professor,” he helped guide the Habs to six Stanley Cups. He became general manager of the St. Louis Blues in 1983 and spent a decade in that position.

9 – Grant Armstrong, a well-respected former judge who sat on the Regina Court of Queen’s Bench for 16 years. He was 85.

10 – Jean Pigott, a former Ottawa MP and chairwoman of the National Capital Commission, at the age of 87. In 1995, she was made an officer in the Order of Canada.

10 – Former Calgary Stampeders quarterback Bob Torrance at the age of 43. He was a member of Calgary’s ’92 Grey Cup-winning team.

10 – Veteran Saskatchewan broadcaster Jim McCrory at the age of 70.

11 – Edgar Kaiser Jr., financier, industrialist, philanthropist and former part owner of the Denver Broncos, in Vancouver at the age of 69.

17 – Most. Rev. Colin Campbell, a former bishop of the diocese of Antigonish, after a long illness. He was 80.

19 – Canadian freestyle skier Sarah Burke died in hospital, nine days after crashing at the bottom of the superpipe during a training run in Utah. She was 29.

22 – Clarence Tillenius, who suffered the amputation of his painting arm in an accident but still went on to become one of the deans of Canadian wildlife painting. He was 98. He received the Order of Manitoba in 2003 and the Order of Canada in 2005.

25 – Toronto photographer Andrew MacNaughtan, well known for his work documenting rock band Rush and many other Canadian musicians. He was 47.

FEBRUARY

2 – Children’s author Joyce Barkhouse, whose novel “Pit Pony” was adapted for the small screen as a Gemini Award-winning film and a series, at age 98.

4 – Clifford Cox, a former national team captain and vice-president of Cricket Canada, at his home in Vancouver. He was 79.

7 – Tom McCluskey, one of Canada’s most respected boxing coaches whose understanding of the sweet science was considered second to none. He was 87.

8 – Former Manitoba cabinet minister Larry Desjardins, who played pivotal roles in the NDP administrations of Ed Schreyer and Howard Pawley, at the age of 88.

16 – Former fullback Warren Hudson of brain cancer at the age of 49. He appeared in three Grey Cup games in the Canadian Football League, capturing the award for top Canadian in 1990 when the Bombers hammered the Eskimos 50-11.

19 – Canadian Football Hall of Fame member Cal Murphy, part of nine Grey Cup-winning teams as an assistant coach, head coach and general manager, at age 79.

19 – Ron Petrie, a popular columnist for the Regina Leader-Post who worked at the newspaper for more than 30 years. He was 52.

21 – Pierre Juneau, a long-time friend of former prime minister Pierre Trudeau, who went on to become an early champion of Canadian content as head of the CRTC and the CBC. he was 89.

25 – Dee Cernile, a guitarist for the Canadian hard rock band Sven Gali, after battling lung cancer. He was 46.

26 – Raymond Pollett, a former mayor of Corner Brook, at the age of 77. He served as mayor of the city in western Newfoundland for 12 years until 1997.

28 – Jim Green, a former city councillor in Vancouver and tireless community activist. He was 68.

MARCH

7 – Lloyd Dennis, who co-authored a groundbreaking 1968 report on Ontario’s education system, at the age of 88.

9 – Hockey trailblazer Herb Carnegie died in a Toronto hospital at age 92. Many said he should have been the Jackie Robinson on the NHL. He took up hockey and earned a reputation as a play-making centre, but no blacks played in the NHL when he started his playing career.

10 – Twenty-nine-year-old Toronto skier Nik Zoricic from head injuries he sustained in a World Cup skicross event in Grindelwald, Switzerland.

18 – Dr. Nigel Rusted, a Newfoundland and Labrador physician who pioneered medical care in the province’s most remote communities, at the age of 104. He was awarded the Order of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2007 and the Order of Canada in 2011.

28 – Leonard Braithwaite, the first black member of Ontario’s legislature, at the age of 88. He represented the Toronto riding of Etobicoke from 1963 to 1975 as a Liberal.

APRIL

9 – Wiebo Ludwig, who was a polarizing figure for decades in the debate over northern Alberta’s oil and gas industry, at the age of 70 after a battle with esophageal cancer.

11 – Author and notorious bank robber Roger Caron, at age 73. He won a Governor General’s Non-Fiction Award in 1978 for his prison memoir “Go Boy!”

12 – Robert Kennedy, the man behind the Ontario-based publishing house that produces a slew of popular health books and fitness magazines, including Oxygen, MuscleMag and American Curves, of complications from cancer at age 73.

12 – Tom Foord, founder of Kal Tire, in Vernon, B.C., at age 90.

13 – Actor Jonathan Frid, who starred as the reluctant vampire Barnabas Collins in the enduring campy gothic TV soap series “Dark Shadows” and its 1970 spinoff film. He was 87.

14- Former Montreal Canadiens captain Emile (Butch) Bouchard, following a long illness. He was 92.

16 – Veteran Toronto Star reporter Randy Starkman, known for his wide-ranging coverage of amateur sports. He was 51.

19 – Jacques Martin, a four-time Paralympic Games gold medallist. He was 51.

23 – Billy Bryans, the Juno Award-winning drummer and producer who co-founded the Canadian pop group the Parachute Club and was considered a pioneer of world music in Canada, after a long battle with cancer. He was 63.

23 – Edwin (Ed) Zemrau, a former president of Canada’s governing body for university athletics, at the age of 78.

27 – Former Calgary Stampeders defensive halfback Wayne Aiken at the age of 76.

MAY

1 — John James Kinley, a former lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia who served as a merchant marine during the Second World War, at the age of 86.

1 — James E. Marker, the vice-president of W.T. Hawkins Ltd. who invented Cheezies, died at home in Belleville, Ont. He was 90.

20 — Veteran actor and comedian Paul O’Sullivan died in a car crash near his home outside Peterborough, Ont. He was 47.

22 — Dave (Super) Mann, one of the most versatile players to ever wear the Toronto Argonauts uniform, from complications due to dementia. He was 79.

22 — Aziz Khaki, who served as vice president of the Canadian-Muslim Federation and vice president of the Council of Muslim Communities of Canada. He was 82.

10 — David Rakoff, the award-winning humorist whose cynical outlook on life and culture developed a loyal following of readers and radio listeners, after a long illness. He was 47.

17 — Former Conservative Senator John Lynch Staunton at age 82.

20 — John Stockfish, bass player on Gordon Lightfoot hits such as “Sundown,” “Black Day in July” and “Song for a Winter’s Night,” at age 69.

26 — Jacques Bensimon, president of the National Film Board from 2001 to 2006. He was 69.

29 — Ruth Goldbloom, who spearheaded efforts to establish Pier 21 in Halifax as a national museum in 2010, at age 88.

SEPTEMBER

6 — Herb Sparrow, a senator from Saskatchewan who served almost four decades in the Red Chamber, after complications from a stroke. He was 82.

6 — Producer Jake Eberts, who helped finance 37 Oscar-winning films, after suffering from a form of melanoma for two years. He was 71.

13 — Former Alberta premier Peter Lougheed from 1971 to 1985. He transformed Alberta into a modern petro-powered giant and an equal player in Confederation. He was 84.

23 — Veteran broadcaster Henry Champ, whose career began in Manitoba and saw him become an international reporter. He was 75.

23 — Sam Sniderman, the founder of the legendary Sam the Record Man music store and a major promoter of Canadian music. He was 92.

24 — Bruno Bobak, Canada’s youngest official war artist during the Second World War. He was 88.

26 — Sylvia Fedoruk, former Saskatchewan lieutenant-governor from 1988-94. She was 85.

30 — Barbara Ann Scott, the only Canadian to win the Olympic women’s figure skating gold medal when she won it in 1948, at the age of 84.

30 — Raylene Rankin of the internationally acclaimed Nova Scotia musical group The Rankin Family, after losing her fight with cancer. She was 52.

OCTOBER

2 — Nick Thierry, Canada’s international swim journalist and expert, at age 73. He was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2001.

10 — Toronto businessman and arts philanthropist Walter Carsen, who generously donated to institutions including the National Ballet of Canada and the Art Gallery of Ontario. He was 100.

10 — British Columbia teen Amanda Todd, who posted a gut-wrenching video to YouTube describing how she had been sexually exploited by an online stalker and bullied by her peers, committed suicide. She was 15. Her story sparked calls across the country to fight bullying.

19 — Lincoln Alexander, Canada’s first black MP and former Ontario lieutenant governor, at the age of 90.

NOVEMBER

3 — Henri Audet, founder of the Cogeco cable and media business, at age 94.

5 — Robert Kaplan, a former Liberal MP and cabinet minister, at the age of 75. He is probably best known for his 1980-84 stint as Canada’s solicitor general, when he presided over the creation of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. He also ushered in the Young Offenders Act.

7 — Garth Vaughan, the man who wrote the national bestseller “The Puck Starts Here,” which made the case for Windsor, N.S., as the birthplace of hockey, at age 84.

14 — Hazel McIsaac, the first post-Confederation female member of Newfoundland and Labrador’s legislature, after a long battle with Alzheimers. She was 79.

17 — Retired senator Laurier LaPierre, who gained fame as the co-host of CBC’s “This Hour has Seven Days.” He was 83.

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I don’t know about impossible, but given that it’s taken almost 20 years to churn out five instalments of this series – something the early Bond franchise managed in six years, and the 1960s M:I TV show in just six weeks – these missions are certainly a lot of work